Chicken Feet
Recently Home Ec 101 started a series called “Kitchen Bravery”. Their first article was indeed very brave. It tells how to make chicken stock from, you guessed it, chickens feet. You can see the details here complete with photos of the item in question and instructions for giving an avian pedicure.
I had a mixed response to this article. “Yuck!” was my first thought. Then I reconsidered. I’m an animal lover. I’m also someone who hopes to start raising chicken and pigs in the next couple of years. How to I make my love for animals mesh with raising and eating animals? My thought is that our (and at this point hypothetical) chickens and pigs will have a nice life. We’ll give them loads of room, fresh air and minimal chemicals. While they may not live longer than their feedlot kindred they’ll have lives that are much nicer.
Taking that idea a step further, doesn’t it make sense to use every possible part of these animals? Isn’t it my responsibility to make their sacrifice count for as much as possible? I think it is. And with that preamble here are some more links about using chicken feet.
I think our opinions on the subject are very close. A vegetarian friend of mine was giving me a hard time about it, but I noted as an omnivore, it was more responsible to use more of the animals we consume. As I noted, I was quietly going eew eew eew during the “avian pedicure.” I won’t lie, that part was hard, but it was easier before I had even finished the batch, if that makes sense. I think many of us are spoiled since most of our meat arrives in hygienic little trays bearing little resemblance to the animal from which it originated. There are still plenty of parts I’m not sure I have the fortitude to try, but I’m going to continue pushing my boundaries.
Thanks for noting the series. 🙂
I think many of us are spoiled since most of our meat arrives in hygienic little trays bearing little resemblance to the animal from which it originated.
I couldn’t agree more. It’s very easy to forget where our meat comes from. Hamburgers really did start out as cows. Chicken McNuggets really were chickens. If we’re going to eat meat, and I am, then we need to do so in the most responsible manner possible.